Net Neutrality India
Your favorite app provider signs up
with a telecom operator, which is different from your current one, for
providing zero rated services. For starters, Zero Rating plans allow internet
companies to grant access to their apps and services or websites absolutely
free of charge, by making a deal with telecom providers. So where users of this
telecom operator will use that app for free, you will pay for internet to use your
favorite app. In such a scenario, where a different telecom service provider is providing zero rated services that covers your favorite app, will you change your service provider? Naturally any prudent
person would, but you might be using several apps and all those app platforms
might not sign up with a single telecom operator for zero rated services.
Eventually you will end up subscribing to all telecom operators
which practically wont be feasible. Consumers might benefit from these
services in the short run but the larger impact of such a venture should not be neglected.
Firstly, the idea of providing zero
rated services is against the concept of net neutrality.
Net Neutrality! Does the word sound
familiar?
The father of the World Wide Web,
Tim Berners-Lee himself revealed that internet was designed as neutral medium. A
packet of data - an email, a video, any document - should be treated the same.
It doesn’t matter if it is sent by an individual or a multinational company.
There should not be any restriction on the basis of economical interests or
motivations.
Sir Tim Berners- Lee explains,
"When I designed the Web, I deliberately built it as a neutral, creative
and collaborative space, building on the openness the Internet offered. My
vision was that anyone, anywhere in the world could share knowledge and ideas
without needing to buy a license or ask permission from myself or any CEO, government
department or committee. This openness unleashed a tidal wave of innovation,
and it is still powering new breakthroughs in technology, business, culture and
much more besides."
As Sir Tim Berners-Lee puts
it, net neutrality at the core means each 'packet' of data must be treated
equally by the network. He further emphasizes that there should be no
censorship and the state should not restrict any legal content by the citizens.
Internet, till date has
fostered innovation, new business ideas, higher connectivity thus promoting the
development of every person associated with it. Most important of all, internet
has helped sustain fair competition. The moment we manipulate with the neutral
fabric of internet, we will open the Pandora’s Box. The competition
existing in the market would cease to exist and won’t allow germination of new
ideas.
Startups would be at the mercy of
telecom operators and internet service providers (ISPs). They would become
gatekeepers, in the sense they will decide who the new entrants in the market
would be. The conducive environment that neutral internet provides for innovation
would suddenly turn hostile and will have serious negative repercussions in the
long run.
Net neutrality is imperative purely
for the sake of inventions. The likes of Google and Facebook would not have
existed if not for the neutral fabric of the internet. Ironically some of the
big companies those survived because of net neutrality are trying to jeopardize
the very essence of internet. The launch of ‘Airtel Zero’ was met with severe
criticism and fortunately the timely backlash on social media forced the
company to drop their plans. Similarly Facebook’s ‘internet.org’ is interpreted
as its covert strategy to void the emergence of another Facebook.
Unfortunately, there are no
regulatory rules regarding Net neutrality. TRAI, the telecom regulatory
authority in India recently came up with a paper for the formation of
regulations regarding net neutrality and the fate of over the top (OTT) internet
based services like WhatsApp.
Net neutrality is equal access to
data. ISPs and telecom operators want to claim the freedom to innovate and
operate their businesses without the intervention of moral regulations. Apart
from Zero-rating services abolishment of net neutrality will allow ISPs to create
fast lane and slow lane. In a fast lane specific websites will be allotted
higher bandwidth while others will be clubbed in a lower bandwidth. Sites
clubbed in lower bandwidth will function slow and will have to pay to these
ISPs if they want to move in a fast lane. Industry lobbyists claim that certain
content like education, research and news must be easier to access than “cat
videos”.
Though there is ample argument over
net neutrality in India the entire debate seems to be urban specific rather
than a comprehension of national interest. Of the entire urban population 42%
have access to internet while only 6% in rural India have access to internet.
Also internet penetration in India is mere 24%. Amidst such deprivation, how
relevant is equal access to data when majority of the chunk has no access at
all.
In developed countries where
affordability is not an issue, creation of slow and fast lanes can further
deter the equal accessibility of data at equal price. In India it is pivotal to
address both affordability and accessibility.
Though zero-rating is seen as an
evil plot devised by internet heavyweights to ensure their dominance, regulators
must strategize to leverage such options to make utile date available to
underprivileged chunk of the country. Though net neutrality considers cat
videos and educational lectures as equal, children in remote India who are
deprived of educational infrastructure certainly values free online education, whichever
way they get it.
Way to go brothers :D
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